How to Start a Cake & Pastry Business
If you love baking or have a particular talent for making tasty treats, opening your own cake and pastry business could be a way to make money doing something you love. Starting your own business requires a lot of work and planning, not to mention the necessary funds to get off the ground. However, if you have a great idea, a delicious product and are able to find your niche market, your cake and pastry business could turn into a runaway success.
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Instructions
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Create your primary menu. Think about whether your cake and pastry business will feature a certain type of item, such as specialty desserts or cupcakes, or if it will represent a broad spectrum of baked goodies. Decide a base menu that will remain permanent, seasonal menus with several items that change and possible weekly or monthly specials you want to include.
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Choose a name. The name of any business can make a significant contribution to its overall success, particularly in the food industry. If your cake and pastry business has an overall theme or style, use that as inspiration for a name. Try to choose something catchy and easy to remember, as well as a name that will be easy to use for a website domain name.
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Find your niche. Cake and pastry businesses have been on the rise; according to "Entrepreneur" magazine, cupcake businesses began popping up in the mid-1990s and were everywhere by 2010. Choosing an area of specialty or a particular pastry niche will give you a leg up on the competition.
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Write a business plan. Your business plan is the opportunity to explain the overall concept, plan and expectations for your cake and pastry business. Include your mission statement, your background in baking and pastries and why your cake and pastry business is unique. Evaluate your target market, prospective locations and estimated start-up budget. Include a cover sheet, statement of purpose, table of contents and supporting documents. Personal tax returns, licenses or letters of intent from suppliers are examples of such documents.
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Procure funding. If you have enough money put aside to start your cake and pastry business, that's wonderful, but chances are you will need to get some extra capital to get the ball rolling. Contact potential investors and use your business plan to enroll them in investing in your business. You can also apply for a small business loan if you have good credit.
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Find a location. Aside from the quality of your baked goods, the location of your business is probably the main determining factor of success. Pick a location in a neighborhood that represents your target market and has plenty of foot traffic or easy parking. Choose a location that has a layout which will be easy to transform into a bakery; often bakeries feature both open and closed kitchens.
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Promote your business. Put ads in your local paper for your grand opening. Create a website for your cake and pastry business which includes photos of your baked goods. Sign up for social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to promote your business further online.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit pastry image by AGITA LEIMANE from Fotolia.com
